What were the circumstances in the Occupied Territory that compelled the policies implemented by the occupying power there? How was policy shaped to address these circumstances?
The Dutch
Before Japan occupied Indonesia and got involved in their affairs, the people of Indonesia were tired of the Dutch rule and were looking for a way out. Many people had tried to rise up against the government, but they had been kept relatively quiet until Japan decided to step in. Japan’s slogan: “The leader of Asia, the protector of Asia, the light of Asia”, took this as an opportunity to take over the helpless Indonesia. The people of Indonesia were more than willing to accept the help from the Japanese because they promised an era of time away from the Dutch - something that the Indonesians had wanted for a long time.
Japan knew they would have to come off as extremely tolerant of the hopes and ideals of the Indonesian people if they wanted to gain their support quickly. In order to gain the people’s support, Japan made a big deal of giving the Indonesian people multiple opportunities to participate and have a voice in politics, administration, and the military. Once the Japanese had pretty much complete control, they allowed for the Indonesian citizens to fill in the lower level positions that had once been filled by the Dutch and other representatives.
Triple A Program
The Japanese used the Triple “A” program to convince the Indonesian people that they were able to free themselves from their rulers. They knew that this was a big deal to the Indonesian people and this was the best way to win over their trust and support. One example of this program was “Sendenbu”, which was a propaganda institute that slowly tried to immerse the Japanese colonial policy into the lives and minds of the Indonesian people. Once the Indonesian were able to free themselves of the Dutch (with the help of the Japanese), the Japanese knew they would be looking for guidance and the Japanese were more than eager to be the ones to help them out. Things really worked in favor for the Japanese because the Indonesian people did not realize what was happening, but they were aware that it was thanks to Japan’s help that they were able to free themselves from the Dutch.
What were the effects of the occupation of your territory on the occupying power's war effort? This should include basic data such as numbers of troops diverted to the occupation and so forth, but should also take into account less logistical factors such as the psychological effect of occupation on the occupying power, issues of morale, attitudes of occupation forces toward the local population (and vice versa) and the degree to which that sharpened or dulled the occupiers' resolve, etc.
First actions
100,000 European civilian interned
80,000 Dutch, British, Australian, and US Allied troops were sent to prisoner of war camps
death rate = 13 to 30 percent
Indonesian Government
Dutch administrators were sent to concentration camps and replaced with either Japanese or Indonesian officials. Many local elites and Indonesian government officials were able to keep their positions as long as they agreed with what the Japanese were doing. Since Japan did not have to worry about cooperating with the Indonesian officials, they were able to focus on securing the waterways and skies that they would later use for war.
Japanese troops seized control of ports, postal services, and government infrastructure.
Basic Structure
Once they had more power, the Japanese split up the Dutch East Indies into three separate parts because they all had different roles. In all regions, the Japanese did their best to promote independent thinking and nationalism in Indonesia to make it very hard for another country to come to Indonesia and try to take over.
Java and Madura were controlled by the Sixteenth Army who was tolerant of the nationalists and Muslims in the area. Java was mostly used for its economic value which helped the Japanese army develop infrastructure and keep its labor force thriving
Sumatra and Malaya were controlled by the Twenty-fifth Army because of all of the resources available.
The eastern archipelago was given to the Japanese navy.
The Japanese took no time adjusting to complete control over Indonesia. They made sure that the Japanese police were feared and did this by confiscating food and other vital necessities. This caused starvation and extreme misery across the land. Also, the Japanese used the Indonesian population to their advantage by forcing between four and ten million people (known as romusha) to work on construction and defense projects in Java for the Japanese military. A handful more were sent out to the Outer Islands and other Japanese-occupied territories to join others in more wartime construction projects.
What were the motivations/methods/outcomes of resistance and collaboration? How did this affect the Occupied Territory after the war? Use case studies to illustrate.
Indonesian Nationalism
In the years leading up to the war, the Dutch East Indies was successful in keeping the small nationalist party under control
However, this changed when the Japanese occupied Indonesia because the Japanese encouraged nationalism in Indonesia and even verbally and monetarily backed new Indonesian institutions and leaders in the nationalist movements such as Sukarno. This created a sense of openness and acceptance which led to the Indonesian National Revolution after World War II. People were so moved and supportive about the era of independence in Indonesia that many Japanese who were a part of the army stayed in Indonesia after World War II to fight in and be a part of the Indonesian National Revolution.
Role in the government
Like mentioned before, the Indonesian citizens were given countless opportunities to not only have a voice in politics but also hold positions once they were under Japanese rule.
Committees were created to standardize Bahasa Indonesia and get rid of the Dutch language. The Japanese even helped the Indonesian government officials finalize their language and helped spread the new language along with traditional Indonesian art, films, drama, and others to the Indonesian population. This new sense of having traditions and customs to call their own helped the citizens of Indonesia put more faith and trust not only in the Japanese, but also themselves.
Japan allowed all these new changes because of all the labor workers and resources they were getting from Indonesia. At the same time, they made sure that the Japanese language was also prevalent in Indonesia because they believed that Indonesia was a good place, but it needed some Japanese seishin to help cleanse it of the three centuries of Western colonialism. For example, the Japanese allowed the Batavia rally in which a statue of Jan Pieterszoon Coen (the seventeenth century governor general) which promoted nationalism and pride amongst the Indonesian people because they were finally able to speak up (as long as the Japanese supported it).
Japanese Propaganda Legion
This newspaper was sent to Indonesia as another way for Japan to press their morals and beliefs on the Indonesian population. The Japanese strongly stressed the fact that the articles were written by the people and represented the “Indonesian” voice. The Indonesian people were so impressed and influenced by the newspaper that they tried their best to keep it around even after the war had ended and the Japanese had left Indonesia. Since most of the news in the newspaper was praising Japan in it’s efforts to defeat the Allies, it was very hard for the Indonesian people to come to terms with the fact that the war was lost and they were thus seen as the “bad” guys.
What were the effects of occupation on women & youth in the Occupied Territory? Use case studies to illustrate.
Young men
During the occupation of Indonesia, then known as the Dutch East Indies, the Japanese army educated and trained the Indonesian young men to fight and be a part of an army. They were also given the opportunity to fight with the Japanese and were given weapons.
Torture
Many women were forced into the sex slave industry and those who refused were either arrested or executed
“Comfort Women”
The Empire of Japan created prostitution corps known as Ianfu - which translates into comfort women. There is no exact number as to how many women were involved, but estimates range from 20,000 to over 400,000 women. Many of these women came from Indonesia and other Japanese-occupied territories including Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, Korea, and many more. Indonesia had its own stations for men to visit whenever they pleased.
It is reported that young women were simply taken from their homes, many times with the false promise of a job in a made up factory or restaurant. Women were also promised food and clothes if they accepted a different job, but even though they were never told exactly what they would be doing, many youngwomen were eager to accept at the chance of a better life. Many times, the army chose which women would become a part of these prostitution rings if their fathers were involved in any war effort that was against or even directly fought the Japanese army.
Often times, these comfort women were only available to men who were a part of the Japanese army as a way to show the power and control the men had over everyone else. The military tried their best to hide what they were doing, but many women began to speak out as journalist Taichiro Kajimura began to dig deeper into the secretive past. One victim stated that she tried her best to resist, but was forced to have sex with a Japanese military officer.
Later, the Prime Minister of Japan sent a signed apology to all of the surviving comfort women stating: “"As Prime Minister of Japan, I thus extend anew my most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women.” Despite his efforts, many of the survivors refused to accept the compensations.
The comfort women in Indonesia were unable to get past the torture and abuse they had endured. Many of them accepted money from government programs, but the rest felt that no amount of money would be able to make up for what had been done to them.
Bibliography
Sluimers, Laszlo. "The Japanese Military and Indonesian Independence." JSTOR. Cambridge University Press, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <__http://www.jstor.org/stable/20071755__>.
SIONG, HAN BING. "The Japanese Occupation of Indonesia and the Administration of Justice Today: Myths and Realities." JSTOR. KITLV, Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <__http://www.jstor.org/stable/27865441__>.
Kontorovich, Eugene. "International Responses to Territorial Conquest." JSTOR. American Society of International Law, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <__http://www.jstor.org/stable/25660331__>.
What were the effects of the occupation of your territory on the occupying power's war effort? This should include basic data such as numbers of troops diverted to the occupation and so forth, but should also take into account less logistical factors such as the psychological effect of occupation on the occupying power, issues of morale, attitudes of occupation forces toward the local population (and vice versa) and the degree to which that sharpened or dulled the occupiers' resolve, etc.
- First actions
- 100,000 European civilian interned
- 80,000 Dutch, British, Australian, and US Allied troops were sent to prisoner of war camps
- death rate = 13 to 30 percent
- Indonesian Government
- Dutch administrators were sent to concentration camps and replaced with either Japanese or Indonesian officials. Many local elites and Indonesian government officials were able to keep their positions as long as they agreed with what the Japanese were doing. Since Japan did not have to worry about cooperating with the Indonesian officials, they were able to focus on securing the waterways and skies that they would later use for war.
- Japanese troops seized control of ports, postal services, and government infrastructure.
- Basic Structure
- Once they had more power, the Japanese split up the Dutch East Indies into three separate parts because they all had different roles. In all regions, the Japanese did their best to promote independent thinking and nationalism in Indonesia to make it very hard for another country to come to Indonesia and try to take over.
- Java and Madura were controlled by the Sixteenth Army who was tolerant of the nationalists and Muslims in the area. Java was mostly used for its economic value which helped the Japanese army develop infrastructure and keep its labor force thriving
- Sumatra and Malaya were controlled by the Twenty-fifth Army because of all of the resources available.
- The eastern archipelago was given to the Japanese navy.
- The Japanese took no time adjusting to complete control over Indonesia. They made sure that the Japanese police were feared and did this by confiscating food and other vital necessities. This caused starvation and extreme misery across the land. Also, the Japanese used the Indonesian population to their advantage by forcing between four and ten million people (known as romusha) to work on construction and defense projects in Java for the Japanese military. A handful more were sent out to the Outer Islands and other Japanese-occupied territories to join others in more wartime construction projects.
What were the motivations/methods/outcomes of resistance and collaboration? How did this affect the Occupied Territory after the war? Use case studies to illustrate.What were the effects of occupation on women & youth in the Occupied Territory? Use case studies to illustrate.
Bibliography